Normally I don’t stop and take pictures while I am on a serious mission. However I doubt that the opportunity to explore Gandara, the Moon Fortress will crop up again.

Earlier we received a tip that Kormir is still alive and being held inside Gandara. At the same time, Master of Whispers informed us of a powerful demonic creature that was corrupting the Elon river. Us heroes were given the choice of accompanying either Margrid or Master of Whispers. I decided that my stealthy ranger skills were more needed in helping Kormir escape. Plus, I wanted to make sure that nothing happened to her. Brute force works great against a demonic being, but when a life hangs in the balance you must be very careful!

Ever resourceful, Margrid has found a way to get in the fortress without causing all of the guards to come down on us. We “borrowed” some Kournan military uniforms and showed up to the entrance along with my friends Elwin and Loreal. I let Margrid do all the talking, as our accents could have given us away.

Inside Gandara I couldn’t keep my eyes off the architecture. It is a huge fortress, with lots of work going on to keep it well fortified. I used to wonder where most of the military force was, and here it is. There is certainly enough room to house parts of Kaineng City!

I remember this part of the fortress very well. Varesh stood here and summoned demonic beings during Kormir’s failed attempt to stop her. There are murals for all of the gods. As you can see, they have been torn and burned down.

The one mural that remains is for Abaddon. Varesh worships and carries out his orders. I really don’t know very much about this “god”. My only other thoughts are on the time I spent in “Abaddon’s Mouth” on the Ring of Fire islands. As this war continues, I’m sure more information will come to light.

I know where Kormir is being held, but I took a few extra minutes to survey the area. The rest of the guards just thought we were patrolling so there was no danger in looking around a bit.

Margrid was pretty eager to get this over with. After we got a diadem for her, she still expressed a lot of concern over Kormir’s safety.

After we defeated the prison guards, I found out why Margrid was so eager to reach Kormir. Her sister Shahai was also being held captive and set for execution. I had a lot of questions for Margrid and Kormir. Like what happened to Kormir’s eyes and what did Shahai do to wind up here? Unfortunately with our cover blown, we had to leave quickly or become trapped in Gandara.

When we reached our escape vessel, Kormir let me in on what happened. I was insistent on getting her to a group of priests. However she learned from Shahai that there is a secret passage to Vabbi not far from here. That is where she is leading the sunspears. Its times like this when I really admire Kormir’s dedication and selflessness to Elona’s future. Of course this is not a time to buck under pressure, but I can’t exactly imagine Cynn in Kormir’s shoes.

Later that day, Elwin, Loreal and I explored the rest of the lands outside of Gandara. Aside from a few guards, it was mostly filled with heket and skale.

The skies above us turned dark as we approached this building. It looks like another prison or structure meant for solitary confinement.

Continuing westward, the skies lightened up a bit and besides the occasional siege attacks from the fortress, it looked like a nice day.

A large group of Kournan guards were found near this small village. I wonder if the people that live here provide goods for the fortress. One of the residents, Helenah, told us that bears were “godless killing machines without a soul”. I felt really awkward talking with her so we moved on. (Seriously, are bears that bad? I think they are kind of cute!)

Nerashi asked us to aid her in killing some Kournan troops. With a request like that, I didn’t really ask about the reward or the amount of Kournans I had to fight. Yeah, I really should have asked her how many Kournans we had to fight, because it turned out to be a lot. I thought the reward was not good enough, but I didn’t want to come across as greedy. Maybe all this time I have been spending with Margrid is affecting me too much.

Elwin, Loreal and I were tired after a days work of slaughtering Kournan guards. We headed back to the small village on the western side of Gandara. I tried to offer the villagers some money in exchange for something to eat and drink but they slammed their straw doors on us. Thats when I noticed a particularly large straw door, which seems to lead into Arkjok Ward. Unfortunately I couldn’t open it so we all headed back to the Sunspear Sanctuary to dine on whatever Lonai dragged in.